Chapter 19

Nineteen

J ane

To my extreme relief, Rocket and Jet are also here. They met me at the house just as I was finishing up my business plan, and they were excited to hear about it as we walked together down to the pumpkin patch.

I hand Sarah off to Rocket. “I don’t want her to witness any of this, even if she’s too young to understand the words.”

Rocket nods, understanding completely. Jet, who no doubt has heard all the stories of Carl’s intimidation from Rocket, looks like he’s ready to put Carl into the ground. Rocket slides an arm through his. “Come on, let’s go play before somebody gets hurt.”

He grudgingly does as she says. I’m grateful; that’s all I need is a shouting match and a fistfight at Henry’s grand opening.

“What do you want, Carl?”

He’d said in his voicemails that he knew where I was and that he was coming. I’ve been prepared for this. I’m done running away. It’s time to fix things for good.

“The only thing I’ve ever wanted. I want my daughter.”

“She’s not your daughter,” I say.

“The DNA test says otherwise,” he says.

I shake my head, swallowing hard, praying Sarah can’t hear too much anger in my voice. “I already did one, remember? I never said you weren’t the biological father. But that doesn’t make you her dad, and it doesn’t make her your daughter. You wanted nothing to do with her, remember? You told people she wasn’t yours.”

Carl, of course, tries to rewrite history. “You didn’t want the money when I offered it.”

“It’s not about money. I never asked you for financial support. I could have supported Sarah and myself with the money I made at the firm and been very comfortable. But you forget that you only wanted to be involved in her life—financially or otherwise—when you thought it would help you. Sarah’s a human being, not a prop.”

Carl laughs. “Doesn’t matter. She’s my daughter and I have a right to see her.”

“You don’t. Your name isn’t on the birth certificate.”

That stops him in his tracks. “What?”

“You barely acknowledged that you got me pregnant, never mind that you denied the baby was yours. You’re damn right I didn’t put your name on the birth certificate. I’m not an idiot. Since your name isn’t on it, you have no rights to this child.”

“I can petition to have my name added,” he says.

I’m bluffing like crazy now, but I sure sound convincing. “You go right ahead and try that; adding your name is not automatic, Carl. The government needs both our signatures. And anyway, I think you’ll find someone else’s name on the birth certificate, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Whose?” he demands.

I glance over to Henry. I plead with my eyes for him to play along with what I’m about to say. He looks back at me with nothing but love. He’s with me, and he’s going to do whatever he needs to do to make this guy go away today. He knows it’s not OK to show up and hash out a custody dispute without lawyers present.

I gesture to Henry. “Him. Henry’s name is on the birth certificate. He’s already adopted Sarah. Sorry, you’re a day late and a dollar short, Carl.”

“We break up and less than two months later, you’re married?”

Henry stands next to me with his arm around my shoulder and chimes in. “Yep. We’re married and I’ve adopted Sarah. End of story. Now, if you want visitation, we might be able to arrange some supervised visits if you play nice and stop calling and texting my wife. And no more surprise visits. If you show up again and try to slip away with her, like you just did, that’s kidnapping.”

At hearing that word, my entire body stiffens and I feel lightheaded. Still, I add, “Henry’s right. Now, if you want to discuss this the proper way, you let me know and we’ll all meet together at a lawyer’s office.”

Carl looks from me to Henry. Henry gently squeezes me closer as we wait for Carl’s decision. Is he going to call us on our bluff and continue to make a scene, or is he going to leave quietly? Which will he decide is better for his image?

I relax into Henry’s grip, realizing it doesn’t matter what Carl decides to do. I’m incredibly lucky either way. There’s no way for him to leave with Sarah today. It’s just not happening.

If he comes back with a lawyer, we’ll work that out, too.

I hold all the power and for the first time in a long time, that feels really, really good.